Great Bible Truths with Dr David Petts
Lessons from their lives Talk 22 – The four fishermen
Welcome to Talk 22 in our series, Lessons from their lives.
Today our subject is the four fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James and John.
We’ll begin by reading Matthew 4:17-22.
- From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’
- As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
- ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’
- At once they left their nets and followed him.
- Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,
- and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
The theme I have chosen for this talk is based on verse 19:
I will send you out to fish for people.
But before we start to look at what this passage teaches us about winning people for Jesus, it’s important to know that, for Andrew and Peter at least, this was not their first encounter with Jesus.
In John 1:35-42 we read that Andrew had been one of John the Baptist’s disciples and that John had pointed him to Jesus as the Lamb of God. Along with another disciple, who is not named, Andrew follows Jesus and asks him where he is staying. Jesus replies, Come and see.
After spending the best part of a day with Jesus, Andrew is convinced that Jesus is the Messiah and goes to find his brother Peter and introduces him to Jesus.
We know that this took place before the events recorded in Matthew 4 because we are told in Matthew 4:12 that John the Baptist had already been put in prison. We’re not told whether James and John had already met Jesus, but presumably Peter and Andrew had told them about him. Indeed, the very fact that they left everything to follow Jesus the moment he called them surely indicates that they had already come to faith in him.
So what can we learn about the call of Jesus’ first disciples about how we can, like them, become fishers of men?
1. Winning others for Jesus means calling them to repentance
- From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’
If people are to come to Christ they must first repent. This was the message of John the Baptist and this was the message of Jesus. Bringing others to Jesus in order that they might follow him will always mean leading them to repentance.
As followers of John the Baptist the fishermen would have already repented and come to faith in Jesus as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
2. You don’t need a special call to tell others about Jesus
John 1:40-42
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.
As we have seen, this took place before Jesus called them on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
3. Winning others for Jesus may well involve a complete change in lifestyle
- As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19.‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’
The call to repentance is by definition a call to a change in lifestyle.
We turn from our old way of life to live in a new life in Jesus.
But for some, though not all, Christians, there is a call to do something completely different from what we have been doing before.
4. This may involve forsaking one’s means of livelihood
- At once they left their nets and followed him.
- Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,
- and immediately they left the boat …
5. It may also involve leaving one’s family behind
- and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
6. Winning others for Jesus means allowing him to make us
19. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ (Greek: I will make you fishers of people)
It means following Jesus, allowing him to show us the way, allowing him to mould us and make us what he wants us to be. Jesus took three years in making his disciples.
7. Winning others for Jesus means proclaiming the kingdom of God
- From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’
- Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and illness among the people.
- News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralysed; and he healed them.
- Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
In these verses Jesus has been showing them how to do it.
In Matthew 10 he sends them out to do it
Matthew 10:1, 7-8
- Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and illness.
- As you go, proclaim this message: “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”
- Heal those who are ill, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
Compare Mark 16:15ff.